The four problems
- 1Fragmentation: eight providers, eight portals, eight invoice formats, several billing dates. Nobody downloads all of them on time.
- 2Currency: US providers bill in dollars, EU providers in euro, some in whichever the card was set to. Each conversion is a small loss and a reconciliation line.
- 3Allocation: an AWS bill for one account covers three products and two environments. Splitting it requires tags that engineers forgot to add, and a spreadsheet.
- 4Tax: each provider decides on its own whether to charge VAT, based on the address it has on file, which is often wrong. Reverse charge is applied inconsistently, and recovering input VAT means chasing invoices that comply with local rules.
What the month-end usually looks like
An engineer with card access exports invoices from each portal. Finance matches them to card statements, converts currencies at whatever rate the bank used, allocates by asking the engineering lead, and books the total. Anomalies are found when the number is bigger than last month, weeks after the usage that caused them. By the time a question reaches the provider, the support tier on a Pro plan means an email and a wait.
We closed cloud spend four weeks after month end, and we were guessing on allocation. The bill was right; our understanding of it was not.
What a consolidated statement must do
| Problem | What the statement needs |
|---|---|
| Fragmentation | One document, one date, one payer, every provider as a line with the provider's own invoice referenced |
| Currency | One currency chosen by you and locked, with the provider's original amount shown for reference |
| Allocation | Tags that span providers, so a project's Vercel, AWS and Neon usage roll up into one number; an export that matches the statement |
| Tax | VAT applied once by one issuer under one set of rules, with reverse charge handled correctly for EU businesses, and an invoice that your accountant can book without adjustment |
Payment terms are part of it
Cards on file at each provider mean cash leaves on eight different dates and the corporate card limit becomes an infrastructure risk. A consolidated payer can offer net-30 terms by bank transfer, because it carries the providers' payment schedules itself. For larger customers, net-60 and separate invoices per legal entity turn cloud into a normal supplier relationship.
Controls finance actually wants
- A budget per project or team, across providers, with an alert before it is exceeded rather than a surprise after.
- An anomaly flag the morning after a spike, not at month end.
- A monthly report of idle resources with a euro or dollar value, so the conversation with engineering starts from numbers.
- An audit log of who changed a package, a budget or a payment method.
Self-issued invoices and the provider's own
When a broker pays the provider, the provider's invoice is addressed to the broker. Your accounting evidence is the broker's statement or invoice, which must carry everything your tax authority expects: issuer details, your details, VAT treatment, a sequential number. Ask any broker to show you one before you sign.
How Deplium's statement is built
Deplium issues one monthly statement with a line per provider showing list price, Deplium price and the difference, in the euro or dollar currency your workspace chose. Allocation tags are shared between the statement and the dashboard. VAT is applied once under Dutch rules with reverse charge for EU businesses. Verified companies pay by bank transfer on net-30; Enterprise moves to net-60 and multi-entity invoicing. Budgets, anomaly alerts and the rightsizing report come with the Managed tier.
Common questions
Do I lose access to the provider's own invoices?
No. They remain in your provider console for reference. You simply stop paying them; the broker does.
Can I re-bill clients from the statement?
Yes, if allocation tags map to clients. Agencies use the per-tag export as the basis for client invoices.
How is VAT handled if we are outside the EU?
Supplies to businesses outside the EU are generally outside the scope of Dutch VAT. The statement shows this and your local rules apply on your side.